Tried this the first time per the recipe, even though I had some reservations about it (which turned out to be justified), and it was only okay. The second time I made it, I revised it and it was a hit. To begin with, don't substitute margarine or oil for butter. Butter and milk mix well together, but margarine/oil doesn't. DO NOT boil/microwave the potatoes. A loaded potato at a steakhouse is never going to be microwaved. EVER! Double the cheddar, and stir it in BEFORE you stir in the potatoes and onion. Save the sour cream for absolute last. Stir that in and only heat through, don't boil. It's not going to curdle if the soup is really hot. Has it ever curdled in your piping hot baked potato? Of course not! It's just that if it's cooked for a length of time, it will be strange. Add crumbled cooked bacon and some extra cheese on top when serving, along with some chopped chives. That adds a tremendous flavor to it. Finally, when we have baked potatoes earlier in the week for dinner, I simply make extra potatoes (I buy them by the bag and invariably there are a bunch of small ones, those are my soup potatoes), wrap them up and put them in the refrigerator until soup day. A cold baked potatoes is super easy to cube and the flavor is still fresh once it's heated in the soup. Just throw them in cold and heat the soup as directed. Trust me, this is the way to go. Happy Eating!

Reviewer:

Definitely make sure potatoes are cooked enough...trying to soften them once all is together is impossible without adding extra of everything else to compensate for the longer cooking time. I also added already cooked bacon while simmering and some garlic salt for extra flavor. All in all, GREAT soup!

Reviewer:

Love this as a base recipe. When in a pinch I will use a bag of frozen diced hash browns and just simmer a few extra minutes. I also add the onions to the butter first to make sure they are nice & soft. Not enough cheese for me either so I add more & I've substituted Colby & it's relish. Last I add bacon bits in instead of just as a garnish.

Reviewer:

My family loved this! So creamy and cheesy. To make the soup a little richer, i used 4 cups of heavy cream and 4 cups of milk. Also instead of cheddar, i used Melt and Dip (generic Velveeta). The bacon is awesome on top of this. Kinda like the icing on the cake. Def a go to recipe for those cold winter days.